After the struggles faced by the Straw Hat Pirates and the Samurai Rebellion, they have finally defeated the Calamity Officers of the Beast Pirates. Sanji’s barrage of attacks have taken out Queen and within the same breathe, Zoro has navigated through King’s abilities and unleashed to overwhelm him. The right and left hands of the Pirate King contenders have faced each other and the ones reigning victorious are those of the Straw Hat Pirates.
I expected Queen to have taken damage from Sanji’s attacks but I did not expect the extent of the power to be so critical. Queen was not only knocked back but he was sent flying! Like all cheese antagonist, he was blasted off. Knocked straight off Onigashima toward the land below near the wastelands outside the Flower Capital. Queen is out and he ain’t getting back up until after the conclusion of the arc is reached.
For all Queen’s whining about needing to prove himself superior to Judge, he lost to the son Judge initially believed to be a failure. Sanji took on all the Germa technology Queen possessed and obliterated that wall. Sanji’s knowledge of Germa technology and his siblings are one of the main reasons as to why Sanji was victorious. If any other Straw Hat faced Queen, the resulting injuries could have been much graver. And beyond the fight, Sanji was able to protect Osome’s mouse, Chuji, and recall his youth when he too cooked to feed a mouse/rat he befriended. Sanji is injured but fortunately, he has Osome near him. Sanji may have been vilified by the her friends earlier but Osome now knows the type of person Sanji is and what he has done for them.
Zoro’s analytical skills coming into play while fighting King was extremely curious. Zoro understood his disadvantage but used the methodology of King against him when he figured out that King had to resort to speed to defeat him which involved King deactivating his flame that consequently rendered his defense reduced. It was a double-edged sword King had to use as he neared his limit. Ultimately, King found himself bested by the more capable combatant. King couldn’t hide his form and revealed himself to be someone the World Government was interested in. A race of beings the World Government was willing to pay a lot of money for information on. Zoro realized this, queried King but in the end got no substantial response. At the conclusion of the fight, the fascination still remains within Zoro. The curious aspect regarding Zoro’s encounter with King is whether Zoro will uncover further details on the Lunarian race going forward. Surely he will considering this set-up?
The design of the Lunarian race is very reminiscent of the Shandorians and I believe intentionally so by Oda-sensei. Along with the Shadorians, Birkans and Skypieans, it also seems likely that the Lunarians also originated from the Moons surrounding the One Piece world world. Or the Lunarians are a variant of the Shandorians, a subset of the race whom possessed special abilities. Given how the Lunarians have the incredible physical resilience, if they were a subset of the Shandorians, it could explain why during the Skypiea Arc, Wyper was able to activate the Reject Dial multiple times (three) and still survive the resulting impact.
Zoro allowed Enma to continually drain his Haki which in a sense removed the limiter Zoro had placed trying to contain Enma. With such an attention deviation gone, Zoro was then able to place his focus wholly on unleashing. And unleash is what he did. King could do little but extend himself as well which meant fighting in a position he was rarely accustomed to. King relied too heavily on his blood and Devil Fruit that he forgot when it comes to a battle of wills, the stronger one always wins. In the face of such resolve, even Dragons fall.
We finally get confirmation that Kaido was a prisoner of Punk Hazard, a confirmation I have been waiting to see for the over 15 months since I first began theorizing that Kaido was at one point captive on Punk Hazard. I may have been off the mark with certain points in that theory but the majority was on point. Even the possibility that King was a prisoner of Punk Hazard being experimented on by the Marine Scientist turned out to be true. Kaido met King on Punk Hazard, saved him and recruited him into the crew he began on that day. The Beast Pirates originated on Punk Hazard which I also accurately surmised in my theory. I wonder if certain theories I have on a certain icy character that has ensnared my heart with their mystery will also turn out to be somewhat correct and relevant.
I had presumed Kaido also met Queen on Punk Hazard but with the revelation that took place after the theory’s construction of Queen being a member of MADS, there is no way Queen could have been on Punk Hazard when Kaido and King broke free. At that time Vegapunk hadn’t even been employed by the Marines. Only after MADS dissolved would Queen have encountered and joined Kaido, which should be somewhere around over 25 years in the past. It could have been during one of Kaido’s subsequent captures that he met Queen and recruited him into his Pirate organisation. It wouldn’t be surprising to learn that along with Vegapunk, Queen also worked under the Marines. While employed as a Marine Scientist, Queen could have learned about the Lunarians existence through the Marines research and history on them.
Turning back to Kaido and King, their DNA likely became core components in Vegapunk’s research when he was caught by the Marines and incentivized to join their ranks. Kaido was captured several times during his life, which could mean that Vegapunk personally conducted research on Kaido while he was captive. Vegapunk’s research into King was almost certainly based on data acquired before Vegapunk met King as I don’t see King having been captured after Kaido saved him. Beyond general research, how fascinated was Vegapunk on the Lunarian race and their special abilities? Could the new power the Marines possess have anything to do with research into the Lunarians? Very much looking forward to the next chapter.
12Dimension 